Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Short Interest Update

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,070,000 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the November 30th total of 11,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AKBA traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,633,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,997,179. The company has a market cap of $425.45 million, a PE ratio of -8.48 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.49. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $37.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $59,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company's lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients.